We hit up Seattle and the surrounds for the 4th of July weekend, so in typical Pardo fashion, as soon as we checked in to our delightful international hotel — catering to Asian businessmen and tea-and-crumpets Brits — around noon, we made a B-line for the baseball and beer.

We stopped in at Seattle’s oldest saloon, Central Saloon, not to be confused with Seattle’s oldest restaurant and bar, Merchant’s Cafe, which just reopened from a short hiatus in 2010. Central Saloon has been open since 1892 but didn’t originally serve food; Merchant’s has always been a food establishment since opening day in 1890. Central was raucously quiet, with several patrons nursing hangovers with beer and eggs and various forms of gravy.

We elected to save some money and sit in the bleachers, which were crowded but arguably better seats than half of those in the ballpark.

We were right over the dugout and could hear the coaches discussing strategy. We always sit in the front row, no matter what the section, as I hate having to almost kick people in the head while fidgeting, like I do.

The view from our $20 bleacher seats:

I highly recommend sitting there if you hit up Safeco Field.

We went to go get a couple of beers, and I (Kat) saw this chic posing in shadow. It was too cool NOT to take a photo of it, even if that makes me slightly stalker-like. After the game, we meandered back to our hotel via Pyramid Brewing Company and an oyster bar, before getting dressed up and heading to a seafood place on the docks for a light, romantic dinner.

Definitely an advantage of the big city over a small Wyoming town: I don’t feel out of place wearing a 50’s swing dress and a hat with a birdcage veil.